Tactic

27.01.10

In dental school, I wasn’t taught to take care of people strictly for future benefits, but rather to perform a technical dental service that fixes the problem of the moment. One thing I often forget, hence the constant reminder to myself is the fact that the teeth are only a small part of a person. Far beyond the teeth I need to care for one's psycho-emotional aspect, which is as important as drilling and filling if not more. The motivating factor behind a patient’s desire to have the care is essential (in return I get more patients! Yay)


It is definitely easier when I see patients for relief of pain. They’d do anything to get rid of the pain which doesn’t go away with painkillers and keeps them up at night. But those with subtle problems for many years - they need a good guidance to decide on what to do, to get out of the middle-of-road situation.


So to mark the beginning of my own career as a private dentist, I decided to use words “clients” and “customers” rather than “patients”. The days where patients just accept whatever the dentist tells them to do have ended long before I put my foot into the dental career. Then why should I have keep such a traditional mindset?


But in saying that, I realized that when I am diagnosing the problem, I should really focus on the fact rather than the person just to avoid them having negative feelings. “This tooth is cracked” sounds better than “you have cracked a tooth” right? As long as I involve emotions and future benefits during the treatment plan consult, it should be fine. After all, nobody jumps up and down with excitement because I'm about to invade their oral cavity and start drilling. They need to hear about the beautiful smile that will make others jealous!

I'm lucky to have enough time for a deep thought like this, but in saying that I won't be complaining if I get sooooo busy that I don't have any time to babble on the blog. Wow. Even thinking about that makes me get excited..!